Morrissey tells netdepressives to boycott his re-releases

Lyricist and sardonic crooner Morrissey has urged loyal fans to steer clear when the big music labels re-release his old tunes.

Mozzer has asked fans not to buy either a planned boxed set of his solo work or a re-released set of CDs and vinyl from his days with the legendary Smiths.

The EMI, HMV and Parlophone record labels in November plan a boxed set of Morrissey singles and B-sides from his post-Smiths years spanning 1985 to 1999.

But Morrissey told the True to You site: "Morrissey does not approve such releases and would ask people not to bother buying them. Morrissey receives no royalty payments from EMI for any back catalogue, and has not received a royalty from EMI since 1992."

Morrissey - the inspiration to a generation of lonely and awkward adolescents who fumbled with their feelings along with themselves in their bedrooms and the empty disco halls of the 1980s - has also taken exception to a planned set of Smiths CDs from entertainment label Rhino and Warner's re-release of Smiths LPs on 180 gramme vinyl.

Again, Morrissey does not approve of, and was not consulted on, the Rhino set. "Morrissey last received a royalty payment from Warners ten years ago, and, once again, he would ask people not to bother buying the reissued LPs or CDs," the statement said.

Stop me if you think you've heard this one before, but this is the second time the queen of the North has thrown his daffodils at entertainment giant Warner. He urged fans to avoid Warner's Morrissey live at the Hollywood Bowl last August, slamming it as the slapdash work of cash hounds.

Morrissey said in a statement on True to You at the time, he'd not been consulted on the release, which he claimed was a "breach of contract".

"I am not signed to Warner, and no royalties from this DVD will come to me. Please spend your money elsewhere," Morrissey said. ®